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Space Oddity

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This article is about the David Bowie song. For other uses, see Space Oddity (disambiguation).

"Space Oddity"
Cover to the 1969 Dutch/Italian release[1][2]
Single by David Bowie
from the album David Bowie (Space Oddity)
B-side
Released11 July 1969
Recorded20 June 1969
StudioTrident, London
GenrePsychedelic folk[3]
Length
  • 5:15 (album version)
  • 4:33 (UK single edit)
  • 3:26 (US single edit)
Label
Songwriter(s)David Bowie
Producer(s)Gus Dudgeon
David Bowie singles chronology
"Love You Till Tuesday"
(1967) 		"Space Oddity"
(1969) 		"Ragazzo solo, ragazza sola"
(1970)
Audio sample
"Space Oddity"
Music video
"Space Oddity" on YouTube

"Space Oddity" is a song written and recorded by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was first released as a 7-inch single on 11 July 1969 before appearing as the opening track of his second studio album, David Bowie. It became one of Bowie's signature songs and one of four of his songs to be included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.[4]

Inspired by Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968),[5] with a title that plays on the film's title,[6] the song is about the launch into space of Major Tom, a fictional astronaut, and was released during a period of great interest in space flight. The United States' Apollo 11 mission would launch five days later and would become the first manned Moon landing another five days after that.[7] The lyrics have also been seen to lampoon the British space programme,[8] which was, and still is, an unmanned project. Bowie revisited his Major Tom character in the songs "Ashes to Ashes", "Hallo Spaceboy" and possibly the music video for "Blackstar".

"Space Oddity" was Bowie's first single to chart in the UK. It reached the top five on its initial release and received the 1970 Ivor Novello Special Award for Originality.[9] His second album, originally released as David Bowie in the UK, was renamed after the track for its 1972 re-release by RCA Records and became known by this name. In 1975, upon re-release as part of a maxi-single, the song became Bowie's first UK No. 1 single.[10]

In 2013, the song gained renewed popularity following its recording 44 years after Bowie by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who performed the song (with slightly revised lyrics) while aboard the International Space Station, and therefore became the first music video shot in space. In January 2016, the song re-entered singles charts around the world following Bowie's death, which included becoming Bowie's first single to top the French Singles Chart. The song also ranked as third on iTunes on 12 January 2016.[11]

Recording and release

Three primary studio versions of "Space Oddity" exist: an early version recorded in February 1969, the album version recorded that June (edited for release as a single), and a 1979 re-recording.

The early studio version of "Space Oddity" was recorded on 2 February 1969, at Morgan Studios, Willesden, London, for Bowie's promotional film Love You Till Tuesday.[12] Bowie and his then musical partner John Hutchinson shared lead vocals and played acoustic guitars, with Bowie adding ocarina and a Stylophone.[13] The lineup on the first studio version also included Colin Wood (Hammond organ and Mellotron), Dave Clague (bass), and Tat Meager (drums).[14] This recording became commercially available in 1984, on a belated VHS release of the film and accompanying soundtrack album. It subsequently appeared on the compilation albums London Boy (full-length version, 4:31) and The Deram Anthology 1966–1968.

In June 1969, after Bowie's split from record label Deram, his manager, Kenneth Pitt, negotiated a one-album deal (with options for a further one or two albums) with Mercury Records and its UK subsidiary, Philips.[15] Mercury executives had heard an audition tape that included a demo of "Space Oddity" recorded by Bowie and Hutchinson in spring 1969. Next Bowie tried to find a producer. George Martin turned the project down,[15] while Tony Visconti liked the album demo-tracks, but considered the planned lead-off single, "Space Oddity", a 'cheap shot' at the impending Apollo 11 space mission. Visconti decided to delegate its production to Gus Dudgeon.[16]

The album version of "Space Oddity" (5:15) was recorded at Trident Studios on 20 June 1969 (with overdubs a few days later) and used the in-house session player Rick Wakeman (Mellotron), who was later to achieve fame with the progressive rock band Yes, as well as Mick Wayne (guitar), Herbie Flowers (bass), and Terry Cox (drums).[17] Bowie sang lead and harmony vocals and played acoustic guitar and the Stylophone.[18] Differing edits of the album version were released as singles, in the UK (mono, 4:33), the US (mono and stereo, 3:26), and several other countries. The original UK mono single edit was included on Re:Call 1, part of the Five Years (1969–1973) box set, in 2015.

The song was promoted in advertisements for the Stylophone, played by Bowie on the record and heard in the background during the opening verse. The single was not played by the BBC until after the Apollo 11 crew had safely returned;[19] after this slow start, the song reached No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart. In the US, it stalled at 124.

Besides its title, which alludes to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the introduction to the song is a barely audible instrumental build-up that is analogous to the deep bass tone in Also sprach Zarathustra that is prominently used in the film.

On 2 October 1969, Bowie performed the song for an episode of Top of the Pops. However, this was recorded separate from the main audience. The performance was shown on 9 October the following week, and repeated on 16 October. At present, the performance is 'missing' due to the BBC's late junking policy.

The release was timed by the record company to align with the Moon landing, and so Bowie was considered for a time a novelty act, especially since he would not have another hit for three years.[20]

Mogol wrote Italian lyrics for the song, and Bowie recorded a new vocal in December 1969, releasing the single "Ragazzo solo, ragazza sola" ("Lonely Boy, Lonely Girl") in Italy.[21]

Upon its re-release as a single in 1973, "Space Oddity" reached No. 15 on the Billboard Chart and became Bowie's first hit single in the United States; in Canada, it reached No. 16.[22] This was then used to support RCA's 1975 UK reissue, which gave Bowie his first No. 1 single in the UK Singles Chart in November that year. It spent two weeks at the top of that chart.[23]

Bowie recorded a stripped-down, acoustic version of "Space Oddity" in late 1979,[24] which was issued in February 1980 as the B-side of "Alabama Song". The 1979 recording was released, in a remixed form, in 1992 on the Rykodisc reissue of Bowie's Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) album, and it was rereleased on Re:Call 3, part of the A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982) compilation, in 2017.[25]

On 20 July 2009, the single was reissued on a digital EP that features the original UK and US mono single edits, a subsequent US stereo single edit, and the 1979 rerecording, as well as stems that allow listeners to remix the song. This release coincided with the 40th anniversary of the song and the Apollo 11 Moon landing.

The 50th anniversary of the single was marked on 12 July 2019 by the release, on digital and vinyl singles, of a new remix of the song by Tony Visconti. The vinyl version, issued in a box set, also included the original UK mono single edit.[26][27]

Demo versions

There were also several demos recorded in early 1969, several of which have since had an official commercial release.

An early demo was recorded in approximately late January 1969.[28] This demo differs greatly from the album version, with only an acoustic guitar and Stylophone present as instruments. The vocals in this demo were provided by Bowie and Hutchinson. Hutchinson sang the lead vocals of the "Ground Control section" up until "...This is Major Tom to Ground Control...", while Bowie sang the harmony vocals. When the lyric begins, however, the source of the lead vocals switches to Bowie as he continues to provide them for the rest of the song.[29] Hutchinson played the acoustic guitar, while Bowie played the Stylophone.[28] The demo remained officially unreleased for more than 40 years until it appeared on the 2009 two-CD special edition of the album David Bowie. It made its vinyl debut in May 2019 on a box set titled Clareville Grove Demos.[30]

Two even earlier demos of "Space Oddity", including a fragment that may be the first recorded demo of the song, were released for the first time in April 2019, on Spying Through a Keyhole, a vinyl box set.[31]

Bowie and Hutchinson recorded another demo version in approximately mid-April 1969.[18] That recording appeared, with edits, as the opening track on the 1989 box set Sound + Vision. (The compilation also saw the first appearance on CD of the original "Space Oddity" single's B-side, "Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud".) It was released in unedited form, on a vinyl album titled The ‘Mercury’ Demos, in June 2019.[32]

All of these demo recordings and one other, previously unreleased demo of the song were included in the 5-CD boxed set Conversation Piece, released in November 2019.[33]

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame United States "The Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll"[34] 2004 *
VH1 United States "100 Greatest Rock Songs"[35] 2000 60
Pitchfork United States "The 200 Best Songs of the 1960s"[36] 2016 48
NME United Kingdom "Greatest No1 Singles In History"[37] 2012 26
Channel 4 and The Guardian United Kingdom "The Top 100 British Number 1 Singles"[38] 1997 27

(*) designates unordered lists.

Live versions

Music videos

On 6 February 1969, a video for the original version of the song was filmed and later appeared in the film Love You till Tuesday.

In December 1972, Mick Rock shot a video of Bowie miming to the June 1969 recording of the song, during the sessions for Aladdin Sane. The resulting music video was used to promote the 1973 US reissue of the "Space Oddity" single on RCA.[39]

A promotional video of the 1979 version debuted in the UK on Kenny Everett's New Year's Eve Show on 31 December 1979.[24] A music video made the following year for "Ashes to Ashes" used many of the same sets, solidifying the connection between the two songs. (Both videos were directed by Bowie and David Mallet.[40])

Track listing

All songs written by David Bowie.

Personnel

Credits apply to the 1969 original release:

Musical

Technical

Charts and certifications

Chris Hadfield version

In May 2013, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, commander of Expedition 35 to the International Space Station, recorded a video of the song on the space station which went viral and generated a great deal of media exposure.[70] The lyrics were somewhat altered; instead of losing communication with ground control and presumably being lost in space as a result, Major Tom successfully receives his orders to land and does so safely, reflecting Hadfield's imminent return from his final mission on the Station. Hadfield announced the video on his Twitter account, writing, "With deference to the genius of David Bowie, here's Space Oddity, recorded on Station. A last glimpse of the World." Bowie was also thanked in the ending credits.[71] This was the first music video ever shot in space.[72] Bowie's social media team responded to the video, tweeting back to Hadfield, "Hallo Spaceboy..."[73] and would later call the cover "possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created".[74][75] The performance was the subject of a piece by Glenn Fleishman in The Economist on 22 May 2013 analyzing the legal implications of publicly performing a copyrighted work of music while in earth orbit.[76] The song is the only one of Bowie's for which Bowie did not own the copyright. Bowie's publisher granted Hadfield a license to the song for only one year.[77] Due to the expiry of the one year licence, the official video was taken offline on 13 May 2014,[78] despite Bowie's explicit wishes that the publisher grant Hadfield a license at no charge to record the song and produce the video.[77] Following a period of negotiations, the video was restored to YouTube on 2 November 2014 with a two-year licence agreement in place.[79]

See also

References

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